Stocks: 5 things to know before the open

Quarterly earnings continue to come in thick and fast on Wall Street, but investors held back from making any serious moves ahead of the Federal Reserve policy meeting that begins Tuesday.

Here are the five things you need to know before the opening bell rings in New York:

1. U.S. earnings: Major companies including UPS(UPS) were slated to report earnings before the opening bell.

Reynolds American(RAI) reported a year-to-year increase in quarterly net income and the tobacco company raised the floor on the range of its earnings guidance going forward.

Pfizer(PFE) reported declines in income and revenue because of generic competition to Celebrex and legal expenses related to Neurontin.

Twitter(TWTR, Tech30), American Express(AXP) and Sturm Ruger(RGR) will report after the close.

Shares in Herbalife(HLF) are declining by more than 10% premarket after the company posted earnings that missed analysts' forecasts.

2. European earnings: Two major European banks -- UBS(UBS) and Deutsche Bank(DB) -- reported significant year-to-year declines in quarterly net profit and flagged new litigation risks.

Shares in BP(BP) were down 1% after the oil giant reported its latest set of results. BP, which owns a big stake in Russian oil giant Rosneft, has warned that it could suffer if Western nations slap more sanctions on Russia over the crisis in Ukraine.

3. More sanctions coming? European officials continue to work Tuesday on details of new sanctions that could restrict Russia's access to European financial markets, arms and energy technology. Western nations have upped their pressure on Russia since flight MH17 was brought down in the region.

Japan introduced its own sanctions on Russia, largely reflecting previous measures adopted by the EU.